Passion Week: Saturday

The Gospels include a ton of information on what Jesus did between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. A harmonized account of all those events can be found here.

But the Gospels record absolutely nothing about what happened on Saturday. Wedged in between Good Friday (when Jesus was dead and taken off a cross) and Sunday (when he emerged from his sealed tomb) we have absolutely no information in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.

Some wish to dissect 1 Peter 3:18-20 to produce a checklist of Jesus’ actions. But that passage causes more arguments in most circles than it gives answers.

And when you think about it, that is fitting. On the first Saturday separating Friday and Sunday, people were searching for answers, too. So instead of picking apart one passage which may or may not give us an indication of what Jesus was up to on Saturday, let’s reflect a bit on what everyone who had been following him was doing when the tomb was still sealed.

We know that some of the disciples were gathered together. The women, for instance, go to the tomb together first thing Sunday morning. We can presume they had been together. John 20 talks about at least John and Peter being together. Perhaps the others were as well. Luke 24 indicates that they were by Sunday, anyway. Maybe they were hanging out on Saturday, too?

If so, what were they doing?

What do you do when a member of your family dies?

I bet they cried. I would imagine they told stories.

“Remember that night when the storm was so strong and the seas were so rough?” one asked.

“Yeah, and Jesus was ASLEEP!” another chimed in.

They all laughed, then a solemn silence fell over the group of friends. I imagine that happened a lot. Crying. Stories. Laughter.

But the silence is about to be broken. It will be pierced with the greatest noise ever known. And when the sound bursts forth from the sealed tomb, it will reverberate throughout history. And the stories that were told on Silent Saturday will be replaced by the Story of Stories, leaving those who have heard it crying, laughing, and stunned to silence yet again.

For when the silence of Saturday is broken, everything is changed for Good.